mouse proofing idea

[Jebby14]

hey all. just wanted to report that I finished winterizing for the year and a friend gave me a tip I though id share. Had several large openings I needed to seal up from an campsite repair. I packed them with loose steel wool and situated it how I wanted (leaving it uncompressed as best I could) then I injected spray foam insulation through the steel wool. Thought here being that the spray foam would fill the holes and the steel wool protect it from being chewed/clawed through. kept working the foam until I was confident it was well dispersed then taped over it to keep it from dripping/expanding out while it sets. Not sure yet how it will hold up by my initial perception is it will be much better than anything else I came up with.

[Community Alumni]

From my own results, mice won't touch steel wool and foam after the steel wool starts to rust. I have spots that are about 11 years old now at ground level of my home that still have not been chewed or clawed. These areas were particularly bad for activity before.

[SoundGuy]

On the subject of using some barrier other than steel wool here's an interesting product called Stuf-fit Copper Mesh designed specifically to fill gaps and keep mice out.

[ADK_Camper]

my440 wrote:

SoundGuy wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
Had several large openings I needed to seal up from an campsite repair. I packed them with loose steel wool and situated it how I wanted (leaving it uncompressed as best I could) then I injected spray foam insulation through the steel wool.

The problem with steel wool is it quickly rusts and disintegrates so it's better to use brass or copper wool, usually available at places like Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

Thanks for the tip on the copper & brass steel wool. Wondering how much extra to pay verses the regular steel wool?

I've had good luck with this technique. You can find stainless steel or copper scouring pads at the dollar store. The both are durable and seem to work well. The pads come rolled up in a puffy little ball. You can tease it apart and you will have a long sleeve that you can wrap around pipes or wires or just bunch up to fill a hole. At 3 or 4 for a dollar it's certainly worth a try.

[Gdetrailer]

SoundGuy wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
Had several large openings I needed to seal up from an campsite repair. I packed them with loose steel wool and situated it how I wanted (leaving it uncompressed as best I could) then I injected spray foam insulation through the steel wool.

The problem with steel wool is it quickly rusts and disintegrates so it's better to use brass or copper wool, usually available at places like Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

AND mice will easily chew through the steel wool or any other metal shavings..

Mice and Rats can and will easily chew through electrical wiring on vehicles and homes and never even bother them.

Instead of relying on those temporary measures, I took light gauge galvanized sheet metal (20 ga or so) and cut out collars to fit tighter around the plumbing and wiring.

I lined the inside of the collars with self stick universal plastic grommet material to prevent chafing.

Looks like this..



This allows for a tight fit of the sheet metal and the grommet prevents damage to wiring or plumbing.

The tight fit prevents mice from being able to get their teeth over the metal and chew it away.

Works well for me, have not had the mice problems in my second trailer since I did this..

[my440]

SoundGuy wrote:

Jebby14 wrote:
Had several large openings I needed to seal up from an campsite repair. I packed them with loose steel wool and situated it how I wanted (leaving it uncompressed as best I could) then I injected spray foam insulation through the steel wool.

The problem with steel wool is it quickly rusts and disintegrates so it's better to use brass or copper wool, usually available at places like Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

Thanks for the tip on the copper & brass steel wool. Wondering how much extra to pay verses the regular steel wool?

[azrving]

My sons used FW came equipped with brillo pads stuffed around some pipes in the compartments. The problem is that the full length steel underbelly was wide open around the dump pipes, drain rods, low points and a bunch of other stuff. Spray foam is excellent for sealing up everything. It all does no good though if you get done and miss one spot like where the propane pipe comes through the frame or something. It's no 5 minute job.

While I was going over everything I cut holes and made covers for the slide motor, dump valves etc for easy access in the future.

[DutchmenSport]

When my son was in the 4th grade he was invited to participate with "Odyssey of the Mind". (Click here). This organization is designed to help gifted-talented kids to "think" beyond the box and truly exercise their minds and abilities beyond just the "normal" expectations. My son and daughter both became involved with it, and like good parents, we decided to host a group of kids.

The kids met at our house (usually in our garage) where we coached them with per-programed exercises and activities.

One such activity included sitting in a circle and then asking a question. Each kids was suppose to give a response, going round and round until they couldn't think any more. (the normal expected answers). Then the coaches were to give a couple examples from the program books which would open their minds (outside the box), and then go round again. When that happened, their minds exploded! It was a fantastic experience.

I say all this, because I vividly remember one such question that got the kids so excited, I thought they'd explode. My wife and I still laugh about it.

The question was, "How do you rid of a mouse in your house!"

The standard answers were, "Set a mouse trap." "Get a cat." "Leave the door open and maybe the mouse will run outside."

When the kids exhausted the "expected" answers, the top blew off!

"Flood the house with a fire hose and the mouse will get washed out!" "Hope a tornado comes and suck the mouse out of the house!" "Run the vacuum sweeper hose through all the mouse holes and suck the mouse out." And the real good one that got us all laughing so hard, ... it was priceless!.... "Burn the house down! The mouse will run from the fire!"

OK, probably nothing to do with the OP's original comment and question here, but I just wanted to share!

Thinking of "Odyssey of the Mind" ... (outside the box), maybe one way to mouse proof the RV is to wrap the entire thing with Syran Wrap, and park it in a snow drift where it's 100 degrees below zero!

Edit:

Actually, I like the idea of the steel wool and the foamy insulation stuff. That combination IS thinking outside the box. Folks have used steel wool and other use the foamy insulation. But I think this is the first I heard of using both together! GREAT MIND WORKING THERE ... outside the "box"!

[SoundGuy]

Jebby14 wrote:
Had several large openings I needed to seal up from an campsite repair. I packed them with loose steel wool and situated it how I wanted (leaving it uncompressed as best I could) then I injected spray foam insulation through the steel wool.

The problem with steel wool is it quickly rusts and disintegrates so it's better to use brass or copper wool, usually available at places like Home Depot, Lowes, etc.

[rockhillmanor]

Jebby14 wrote:
hey all. just wanted to report that I finished winterizing for the year and a friend gave me a tip I though id share. Had several large openings I needed to seal up from an campsite repair. I packed them with loose steel wool and situated it how I wanted (leaving it uncompressed as best I could) then I injected spray foam insulation through the steel wool. Thought here being that the spray foam would fill the holes and the steel wool protect it from being chewed/clawed through. kept working the foam until I was confident it was well dispersed then taped over it to keep it from dripping/expanding out while it sets. Not sure yet how it will hold up by my initial perception is it will be much better than anything else I came up with.

Sounds like winner DIY to me!

Add this to your arsenal.
Buy 'Great Stuff' new spray foam for THE BUG AND PEST EVICTOR protection.



http://greatstuff.dow.com/product/pestblock.htm

[PERCs]

This foam comes in black, no need to paint.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GREAT-STUFF-12-oz-Pond-and-Stone-Insulating-Foam-Sealant-283064/202522224

David

[azrving]

I used regular spray foam 4 years ago. I like the steel wool and rodent foam ideas. Spray any visible foam with cheap flat black paint. I greased the rods for the tank valves and foamed right around them. Let it dry and they seal pretty tight but slide in the foam.

[donn0128]

There is such a thing as rhodent proof spray foam. Usually works much better than regular foam.